A Project Proposal
by wandgirl
Summary: A SWEET LOVE STORY. Tomoyo is just an ordinary girl, Eriol is the school's most popular boy. She wanted to be alone; he wanted to stay with his friends. She felt alone, he doesn't. She's a girl; he's a boy.
1. Sorry

**A/N:** This is a fic about Tomoyo and Eriol. At first, they don't like each other but in the end, they'll hang out well. Hope you like it. Whatever you think of this, please review and I'm willing to accept all your comments. Enjoy.

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**A Project Proposal**

**Summary: **Tomoyo is just an ordinary girl, Eriol is the school's most popular boy. She wanted to be alone; he wanted to stay with his friends. She felt alone, he doesn't. She's a girl; he's a boy.

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**Chapter 1:**

**SORRY**

In a small town somewhere in Japan, rich people lived no one had ever bothered to socialize with. These people were the owners of beach resorts, companies and other well-known establishments all over Japan. They were putting their kids into the town's only school from kindergarten to highschool. In college, their kids went off to the city to continue their studies.

Why here? Most outsiders often asked themselves realizing that every family living here had a good name to took care of but why here? Being in a small town was these people ever dreamed of. No reporters. No busy streets. No horns of vehicles. In short, peaceful.

All families almost knew each other, for they were all kind and humble. Nobody was boasting about their social life. They left their kids in highschool at the town's boarding school.

Now here goes our story. It was mid-school year in this certain boarding school, where all teenagers knew each other, when a raven-haired girl in ponytail bumped the school's most popular boy, Eriol Hiiragizawa.

Tomoyo Daidouji hurriedly picked up Eriol's things on the ground ignoring hers, "I'm sorry..."

"Oh Daidouji, look where you're going." Eriol snatched his books.

"Sorry again." Tomoyo hurriedly left and went straight into the Girls' Dormitory.

Eriol shook his head and looked behind his bestfriends, Rui and Akira. They sat beneath a tree to rest.

"How good of that Daidouji." Akira remarked, "She's quite strange because since kindergarted, or I should say, in my entire life, I've never seen her hanging around with her friends, if ever she had one."

"You're too cruel." Rui laughed,"She's just shy. She can never be angry to anyone. All she do is smile and sing - "

"Sing?" Eriol piped in. "Daidouji can sing? Really? Unbelievable."

Eriol wore glasses with those blue eyes and pale skin. Rui, his best friend has brown hair and talks about girls all the time. Akira, on the other hand, loves pulling jokes to everybody.

"Oh yeah, she does." Rui replied. "She's too kind and I often saw her staring at the stars up the sky at night alone." He said dreamily. "She once returned my lost wallet, which she found on our Chemistry class. Sometimes I wanted to talk to her and be our friend. What do you think?"

"Sounds boring, Rui." Akira said. "I can't stand to hang around with her. We, three, might end up helping her pull weeds on our school garden or nurse a hurt kitten back to health."

"And since when you've known those stuffs?" Eriol asked Rui and Akira. "I haven't been interested with Daidouji's habits before and no one wants to hang around with her often."

"I've known those things ever since I stepped into school." Akira rolled his eyes. "She always do that, you know."

"Don't speak like that please." Rui opened a book, "You should never insult girls, Akira, they should be respected. Eriol was just too lazy to hang around with girls. He's only interested with the school's most prettiest girl, Megumi, since thirteen years of age."

"Every boy wants to go out with her." Eriol defended himself. "You're lucky to have girlfriends unlike me, so please don't pick on me."

"This is trouble when I hear Eriol say those things." Akira said, "Why don't ask Daidouji out? She won't refuse to anyone even into the school's ugliest guy. She'll definitely say yes."

"I surrender, Akira." Rui stood, "I would rather be with my girlfriend than to quarrel with you. Poor Daidouji, no friends, only Akira to tease her often. Bye, got to go."

Rui left. Eriol was listening to the conversation and thinking about what they've said. Honestly, Tomoyo Daidouji wasn't ugly at all. She was kindhearted and intelligent but – _plain_. Girls often go shopping to buy new dressed but she doesn't seem to care. Worst, people made fun of her in her back. Eriol looked up the sky when the bell rang.

Akira stood, "My class will start now, Eriol. See you around!"

Eriol walked alone towards his class for Values Education then opened the classroom door. The room was very airy then he sat in his chair. Tomoyo was also in his class at the corner of the room.

The male teacher entered the room, "Good morning class."

The class nodded.

"Before we start our lesson, I have some projects for you. You'll be grouped by two. I'll tell you first who'll your partners will be then I'll tell you what you'll do."

The teacher called out names of boys and girls for three minutes. Eriol was wondering who'll be his partner when...

"...Hiiragizawa and Daidouji..." His teacher stated.

Eriol, open-mouthed, threw Tomoyo a frown. Tomoyo simply smiled at him.

"Ok." His teacher sighed, "Since this was a Values Education, you have to get to know your partners and write then pages of essay about his of her attitudes. The best way to discover that is to hang around with your partner more often than you do or talk about this project after school hours. Any options will do as long as you pass your essay project – ten pages... The more attitudes you discover and write, the higher grades I'll give you, no matter how good or bad your essay will turn out."

Tomoyo sighed, 'Oh... how can I do that? I'll fail this subject and it's a shame... This is the easiest among all...'

The whole day had passed and the classes were already over. The sun will set while students loitered around their Dormitory. One of them was Eriol, who unfortunately met his two best friends along his way.

"How's life?" Akira asked.

"Bad." Eriol answered flatly.

"Why? Do you have that Values-project-thing to do?" Rui laughed. "We're lucky because out teacher allowed us to pick partners."

"Good for you, Rui." Eriol smiled weakly while walking towards the Girls' Dormitory. "Do you know who my partner is?"

"I reckon it's Daidouji." Akira smirked, "She's heading towards us, look."

Akira was right. Tomoyo was running towards them with her hair tied in a tight bun this time. She stopped at their front to catch her breath.

"Hello." Tomoyo greeted shyly.

"Well, hello." Rui and Akira exchanged looks.

"Hello... Hiiragizawa-san." Tomoyo held her skirt tight. How was she going to ask him to hang around with her tonight? Remember, she was the type of girl no one wanted to be friends with because they have stamped a word on their minds every time they saw her –_ strange_.

"Hello..." Eriol forced himself to smile. He was going to ask her about her attitudes and write everything down on a small notebook then leave but what do this girl wants from him right now? "I just want to ask you if you're busy tonight. You and I can talk about things... if you know what I mean..."

"Yeah things." Akira said before Tomoyo can answer. "Things that only a boy and a girl alone can talk about. Right Daidouji-san? I wonder what those _things _are..."

Eriol nudged him at ribs. Tomoyo was laughing in a ladylike manner.

"It's about our project." Tomoyo smiled. "Sure we can, Hiiragizawa-san. I'm going to ask you. You just asked it first."

"Ok Akira, let's leave them." Rui pulled Akira's shirt. "Don't wait for the night outside Dormitory alone under the stars. You know how gossip starts. Anyway, enjoy."

Eriol watched them leave. It took him minutes when he noticed Tomoyo looking at him. Eriol walked towards the lake and sat in the grass, throwing stones.

Tomoyo sat beside him, about a yard away, shyly. "So... how can we start? I don't know much about you, Hiiragizawa-san. You're popular, intelligent and handsome..."

Eriol didn't notice himself smile. So, Tomoyo thought of him as handsome? A girl like her would never think of boys and care about them. So, what do this mean? Eriol shook his head, taking that thought out of his mind, "Just call me Eriol, okay. We can start by that one and is it okay if I call you Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo took out a notebook and a pen from her pocket and nodded. "I'll add the idea that you're polite too."

Eriol frowned, "Polite, why?"

Tomoyo looked at him and smiled, "Because people often shout at me or ignore me every time I'm talking to them. That's why I don't have friends."

Eriol watched her take down notes. 'This girl is too kind like what Rui said. In spite of what others think about her, she didn't take them seriously. I wish I could be like her.'

"Uhm... I think I got to go back to our Dormitory. I don't want to waste your precious time with me." Tomoyo stood, "I know you're planning to do something."

What? Eriol pulled her hand. "No. Stay here. I want to know more about you."

"I'm sorry, Eriol, you're my partner." Tomoyo sat again. "Sorry... It's all my fault... If you're not my partner you'll get higher grades because it's not easy to hang around with me. I know I'm strange."

Eriol asked himself curiously, 'Sorry for that? It's not her fault. Why do she blame herself? I admit it. I don't want to be her partner.'

"What do you think of me, Eriol?" Tomoyo asked.

Eriol quickly dug his memories. What do he think of her? "You're kind – intelligent – quiet – shy – beautiful."

Tomoyo sighed then embraced her knees. "You're lying. I know you can't stand a moment with me. Everyone thinks I'm annoying but what do I do with them? Nothing. They're making fun of poor Tomoyo..."

"I wasn't lying!" Eriol insisted, "That's the truth."

Small tears crept down Tomoyo's face. "You don't have to lie to me. You're my partner and we shouldn't keep secrets from each other. I'm sorry, Hiiragizawa-san... You could ask our teacher to switch partners but you know it wouldn't be possible. No one wanted to be Tomoyo Daidouji's partner. Sorry Hiiragizawa-san..."

Eriol felt ashamed of himself. He threw few stones into the lake. Tomoyo can sometimes be emotional too. All she told him this night was true and Eriol felt uneasy about that.

"Stop saying sorry and don't call me by last name." Eriol patted her back. "It's not your fault. Besides, who told you to be sorry?"

Tomoyo wiped her face by her skirt. "Everybody's showing it."

"You're too emotional." Eriol stated.

"You don't understand." Tomoyo sobbed harder. "NO one understands. Who cares for me? No one. Even my mother doesn't care for me." She stopped crying the smiled foolishly. "Anyway, I'm sued to it. I'm a nobody. I'm used to broken promises, unfulfilled Christmas wishes and forgotten birthdays."

Eriol gasped. "Don't say that. Everybody have their own reasons - "

Tomoyo cried hardly. "Reasons? Oh yeah. I'm not important anyway, so why bother? I love them but they seem not to care. They don't love me back. I don't have a friend Hii – I mean Eriol, aside from my cat but my mother got angry about taking care of a stray cat. She ordered our maid to throw it away. I objected, that cat is my ONLY friend and she wants to throw it. But what can I do? I didn't eat my meals for two days. I wanted to die. Life for me is cruel."

She paused to catch her breath. Eriol kept patting her back.

"The next morning, I fainted." Tomoyo continued, "My mother got very angry then she decided to put me here in this school. This is the only way for her to get rid of me." She wiped her face again by her skirt. "Sorry Eriol. Sorry..."

Eriol put his hand on his pocket then held out a handkerchief. "Take this. And stop saying sorry, will you?"

Tomoyo took it then nodded. "It's time for the supper. I think we should go back to our Dormitories. Thanks for listening to my troubles." She opened her notebook then wrote down something again. "I'll add the idea that you're patient..." She wiped her face to be dry.

Eriol laughed, "You can't add that. I'm impatient."

"You are." Tomoyo smiled and returned the handkerchief. "And I'm happy about that." She stood then held out her hand. "May I shake hands with you as a sign of partnership?"

Eriol stood, smiled then accepted her hand. "Sure."

Tomoyo waved him goodbye as she headed to the Girls' Dormitory. She tightened her bun while Eriol simply smiled to himself.

'She's extraordinary.' He thought to himself. 'How sad her story is. I can't believe she's feeling alone underneath those kind smiles. I want to know her better but I don't want to be seen around with Tomoyo often. She's not the type of girl who enjoys her teenage life. She almost spent her weekends with orphans in the town's orphanage and doing Church services. She's too kind and I won't be surprised fi someday she'll become the town's head social worker or mother superior...'

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**A/N:** That's how everything will start. I got another fic entitled: Together Again about Sakura and Syaoran and full of romance! PG-13 for that. Please read and review that also. People, I hope you'll review...


	2. Orphans

**A/N: **Thanks for my first four reviewers. I know this story is quite sad. Eriol got to do something to find more time to get rid of Tomoyo but he couldn't. I love everything in this fic. I hope you read my SS fic too, which is absolutely full of romance! If you're not contented with that, I'm willing to accept flames. I assure you. You'll love it and it's entitled: TOGETHER AGAIN.

Thanks:

**B0nB0nCaTz - **really?! You think it's cool?! Wow, thank you!

**MangaAnimeLover – **yeah. I know my story is sad but I appreciate that you like it.

**melaniemelmelgirl – **wow! I'm so touched. Does my writing appear better? I thank you a whole lot.

**lilaznange – **yeah. Tomoyo is emotional and that will happen not only once.

**Chapter 2:**

**ORPHANS**

Tomoyo and Eriol always met in between classes for almost a month. But one day, Eriol got tired of meeting her and decided to hang with his best friends again. In a corner of the soccer field, Eriol, Rui and Akira talked about the way they used to be.

"What is it like to be Daidouji's partner?" Akira bit on an apple.

"Good." Eriol lied.

"Really?" Rui frowned at him. "She's strange, isn't she? I can read your mind, Eriol. And you don't like her that much. You're a great pretender Eriol Hiiragizawa."

"Don't judge me." Eriol said cruelly, "She's really strange and I don't want to hang with her more often, you know. I'm only using her to get Megumi Maso's attention and it's working. Megumi was talking to me lately. She asked me why do I hang with Tomoyo often, so I told her the reason. She sighed then asked me to be her friend. Isn't that great?"

"Poor Daidouji, what are you talking about every time you meet?" Akira asked. "Bet it's all about orphans."

"Exactly." Eriol laughed, "Sometimes it's funny to listen to her stories but I have to. She's pretty boring guys. But she's so kind and polite. I can't say no in everything she asks me to do."

"The question is, are you sincere doing those things?" Rui raised his eyebrow.

"Sort of." Eriol laughed, "I'm interested with her lifestyle. Doing church services, going to the orphanage and being nice to people here in school and the needy in the streets every weekend. But you see, I don't want to be with her often. Imagine, Eriol Hiiragizawa and Tomoyo Daidouji."

Akira pulled a grass and burst into laugh, "Oh, Daidouji. Wonder what she'll say if she heard you talking and laughing with all these stuffs."

"Be kind to a kind girl like her." Rui said, "How come you can say these things, Eriol? The more you hang with her, the more you'll discover her thoughts and feelings."

That weekend, Tomoyo and Eriol met again near the exit of the school. Students were allowed to go out every weekend. Tomoyo was dressed in a yellow balloon skirt reaching beyond her knees and a closed-neck white shirt. Eriol was wearing denim pants and a black shirt.

"Eriol!" Tomoyo called out.

Eriol stopped walking and greeted her. "Ohayou, Tomoyo."

"Ohayou too." Tomoyo smiled, "I just got a little favor to ask."

"What is it?"

Tomoyo exhaled, "Can you go with me in the orphanage today? I think you got a golden heart – oh I've added that on my project – and you'll enjoy being with the orphans."

Eriol forced a smile and thought, 'Golden heart? With orphans?' He has no choice, so he nodded.

"You can say no..." Tomoyo said softly.

"I'll come." Eriol replied. This is a better way to get higher grades to get to know each other. "Let's go."

The two walked towards the city. It was just a few meters from their school. As they walked, Tomoyo tied her hair on a ponytail and rested it on her shoulder. Eriol can't help noticing this. Tomoyo can look good if she wanted to. As I've said, she was not ugly but plain.

"Can we stop by that bakery first?" Tomoyo asked. Eriol nodded then bought a dozen different kinds of breads.

"Let me carry that for you." Eriol held the plastic from Tomoyo. "For orphans?"

"Yeah." Tomoyo replied as they walked. "They'll love it. Oh look!"

Tomoyo pointed an old woman trying to cross the road and ran towards her. She helped the woman cross then went back to Eriol. Open-mouthed, Eriol stared at her.

"What's that look on your face?" Tomoyo laughed. "Are you fine?"

Eriol blinked, "Why do you bother to help people in need?" They continued to walk down the street.

Tomoyo wiped her face by her handkerchief. "I don't know. I wanted to see people smile on me voluntarily not like those fake smiles our schoolmates was giving me. I just want to help."

An invisible lightning struck Eriol. "I see."

"The orphans are my friends." Tomoyo smiled. "And I want to see them happy. I've been saving my own allowance every year for presents because Christmas is near. I don't care about myself. I'm lucky enough to be rich but I wanted to fill the emptiness inside of me."

'So that's the reason why she's not buying much clothes like other girls do. She's really kind and I regret the things I've said to Rui and Akira. I wish I were as kind as she was.' Eriol thought to himself.

"Here's the orphanage." Tomoyo pointed a high wall and a black gate. "Let's come in."

They entered the huge gate. As they entered, Eriol took a look around him. The bushes were all dried, leaves were scattered everywhere, and the building looked creaky and old, the doors and windows weren't in good condition. Eriol shook his head feeling sorry for orphans. There was a big difference between this world and his.

They entered the main door when suddenly a woman came up to them. She has a short blonde hair and dressed in an old torn dress. She looked at the age of thirty.

"Miss Daidouji, nice to see you around." She greeted and looked curiously at Eriol, "Ohayou, sir."

Eriol smiled and wanted to shake hands but he was carrying the plastic full of breads.

"He's Eriol Hiiragizawa, Cecil." Tomoyo tapped Eriol's shoulder. "Eriol this is Cecil."

"Hello Madam Cecil." Eriol bowed his head.

The thin woman laughed. "Call me Cecil. I'm not that old."

"So where are the kids?" Tomoyo asked.

"They're on the backyard playing." Cecil replied.

Eriol and Tomoyo passed many rooms with open doors before they reached the backyard. Eriol kept looking around. Scattered newspapers with colors, old toys, broken tables and things that came from the donations. "What are those newspapers for?" He wondered.

"They don't have coloring books." Tomoyo smiled. "How lonely this place is, Eriol, that's why I want to bring happiness as they make me happy too.

Tomoyo opened the door at the end of the corridor. Orphans with age ranging from 3-12 ran to meet her both boys and girls dressed in old clothes.

"Tomoyo" A girl about five hugged her. "We miss you!"

"Look. I've made you a card to thank you for the food you brought last time." A boy of ten held out a card with drawing.

"Thank you." Tomoyo accepted it. Eriol can tell how happy she was.

"Who is he, Tomoyo?" The kids asked.

"He's Eriol and you should be kind to him, okay?" Tomoyo smiled.

"Sure." A girl of twelve years exclaimed. "We should be kind to her boyfriend."

"He's just a friend." Tomoyo gave the plastic full of breads to the girl who said that joke, "Distribute this to your friends."

All the kids ran and picked out their choice then they continued playing again. Tomoyo and Eriol sat in a chair below a tree. Eriol noticed Tomoyo smiled as they watched the orphans.

"I love this place." Tomoyo sighed. "I feel sorry for them before I knew them but now, I feel more sorry for myself."

Eriol frowned. "You want to be an orphan?"

Small tears peeked from the corner of Tomoyo's eyes. "Sometimes I want to. Isn't it nice to be an orphan than to be a rich girl like me without my mother on my side every time I need her? They're really lucky. They got friends."

Eriol pushed his glasses; "Do you enjoy what you're doing with them? I mean, you're not like any girls at school."

Tomoyo wiped the small tears then shrugged. "I do. I know I'm weird. Um... Eriol, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What do you want in life?"

Eriol fought back the laughter. What do he want in life? He himself doesn't have any idea. Was Tomoyo trying to make him laugh or not?

"I think, I'll take Law at college and I hope I'll pass the entrance test this year." Eriol smiled.

"No." Tomoyo shook her head, "I mean after college..."

Eriol stared at her for a moment then laughed. Tomoyo frowned. Now, he thought that Tomoyo was really joking.

"What's funny?" Tomoyo asked.

Eriol stopped. "I don't know it yet. You?"

There was a long pause. Tomoyo stared at the blue sky dreamily before she spoke. "If ever I had the opportunity, I want to have my own family with husband and kids. That's my dream."

Eriol's mouth formed an '_O_'. 'Dream? Getting married? Silly."

Tomoyo sighed. "I know I will someday, and the man I would marry will learn to love me. But my mother kept insisting that I should never love any man because she had the right to be the one to pick my husband."

Eriol shook his head with a smirk while Tomoyo kept looking at the endless sky.

"She once introduce me into a boy of my age." Tomoyo continued, "But that boy finally gave up after a week of dating. He said that he couldn't stand a girl like me to be his wife someday. At first, I like his looks, mother is great with that. The only thing I hate is the day he shouted in my front, saying I was the most boring girl he ever met and he wouldn't marry me. Mother got angry with me. She said I've made her lost the other company, which was in the top ten achievers this year. If I should have been interesting, that boy could have been my husband after college." She sighed again.

"How sad." Eriol said. It's really true, the more he hung with Tomoyo, the more he learned to be kind.

"Now, I think that childhood dream of mine is gone." Tomoyo turned her head to Eriol then smiled. "I wouldn't marry any boy because no one is interested with me."

Eriol asked curiously. "Don't tell me you haven't been in love, have you?"

"I haven't." Tomoyo smiled.

Eriol felt a big invisible boulder dropped into his stomach. "Well forgive me for saying this: your life is boring." He expected her to shout but she didn't.

"I'll ask you, have you?" Tomoyo asked softly. "I always wondered what's the feeling?"

"I have three ex-girlfriends." Eriol replied. "And I like them all in their own ways."

"Like is different from love."

"But if you like someone, you learn to love."

"Who's the current one?"

Eriol laughed. "I wished Megumi Maso is mine. She's lovely. And it's easy to love her, I can feel it."

"You don't love her yet, how can you say so?" Tomoyo frowned.

Eriol shook his head feeling impatient. "You know what? If Rui will break from his girlfriend, you should hang out with him more. You're both similar the way you asked me."

"Funny." Tomoyo said flatly.

"Really!" Eriol laughed. "You fit together! Anyway, you'll feel the love someday but I bet a hundred that I'll fall in love first than you, Tomoyo. And that will happen with Megumi."

"Heartless." Tomoyo said. "I'll bet a hundred that Megumi won't ever love you."

"Oh!" Eriol stood. "You'll see. So, you're challenging me? I'll make you feel sad if I won and that will happen."

"You want me to be sad?"

"Why not?" Eriol laughed again.

"Then I'll make you dry if I won the bet." Tomoyo stood too.

Eriol encircled his arms into Tomoyo's shoulder, "I'm just kidding. Of course, I won't make you cry. But I'll surely make Megumi fall head over heals. And I know you'll find yours someday. Believe me, I'm good at predicting."

Tomoyo blushed as she felt the warm presence of Eriol's hand in her shoulder. "I hope so."

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**A/N: **Remember the bet and all Eriol had said here on the few last paragraphs. Mark his words and... PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know what you think about this.


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